Can't finish my install, because I think I missed a step

[farewell]

Hello,

I'm trying to install Windows XP SP3 Pro from a USB drive into a little computer, which is aimed to host some databases.

It is composed of a 500Gb SATA2 HDD. It also has card readers. It has never been used before, and the HDD was not yet formated.

Unfortunately, I first tried to install winXP using this guide : http://myeeeguides.wordpress.com/2008/11/1...sb-flash-drive/

I therefore haven't read the FAQ of this forum, and I missed this step :

Q13: My hard disk got letter F(G,E...), why?

A13: If you have a card reader or any other USB mass storage disable it or turn off prior to installation.

If you cannot, then partition the hard disk during Text mode Setup, then quit using F3, reboot and start Setup again. Once you have partitioned and formatted hard drive, it should get letters starting from C:.

I haven't disabled the card readers, and I installed Windows XP after partitioning my HDD in 3 partitions, without rebooting. I remember that partitions got letters like F, G, E, or something near that.

After TXT install, I rebooted, and got hal.dll error. I started searching, and found this forum. I tried a couple of tips you gave to other guys, the first one being to change boot.ini.

Unfortunately, I was not able to know how was the configuration of my partitions, and I still got hal.dll.

As modifying boot.ini didn't work, I tried other methods found there, like USB_Multiboot. I still got hal.dll.

I wanted to try other methods, but it seems quite complicated to me (e.g. http://www.msfn.org/board/install-xp-usb-a...sb-t121446.html )... I think this is also because I'm french and both understanding the language and the method becomes hard !

I also tried to just start again from step 0, but I can't because I now always get hal.dll error

So, my questions are :

- Is there any way to start again from step 0, so I can delete all partitions, make new ones, reboot, and start a fresh install ?

- Is there a way to solve this problem ?

Thank you for your answers (and mea culpa for the FAQ question 13...)

[ilko_t]

Use the latest WinSetupFromUSB. Prepare the USB drive.

Start it on the computer in question. Disable card reader in advance.

During First part of setup delete all partitions and create new ones. Do NOT continue, use F3 to reboot instead.

Start First part again. Drive letters should be fine. Continue with setup. Pay attention which partition you are installing into:

Note Partition1 (hidden in this case) and Partition2. Say we installed Windows in C: (partition2).

So for the second part, I'd be selecting "Start second part of setup from HD 0 partition 2".

If you have customized Windows, using own folder name for Windows directory, make sure that directory name is used in boot.ini on the USB drive.

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS

What USB disk are you installing from? Is it USB stick or USB hard disk?

[farewell]

Thank you for your answer.

I'll try again this evening, hower the last time I prepared my USB drive I couldn't start the installation step 1 again, it just showed me the hal.dll error.

I'm installing from a USB stick, a 4Gb "patriot memory" ( http://www.patriotmemory.com/products/deta...646&type=11 ).

I also have another question :

it's written almost everywhere to not unplug the USB stick until windows logon. However, if I have to change the boot.ini file, I'll therefore have to remove the stick, modify the boot.ini file, and put it back on the computer.

Is this correct or did I miss another step ?

[jaclaz]

it's written almost everywhere to not unplug the USB stick until windows logon. However, if I have to change the boot.ini file, I'll therefore have to remove the stick, modify the boot.ini file, and put it back on the computer.

Is this correct or did I miss another step ?

The "do not unplug" actually means "always boot from the USB stick".

In a "normal" setup you just reboot between steps, leaving the USB stick in.

In a "special" setup, instead of rebooting you switch the PC off, take the USB stick off, do whatever you need to do on it on another PC, then re-plug it and then switch the PC on again, booting from the modified stick.

BUT you can modify the BOOT.INI adding the additional entries BEFORE even starting the install procedure.

jaclaz